Chapter 10
In this chapter Jack and his tribe steal Piggy's glasses, the only means of creating fire on the island. Summary In this chapter the rift between Ralph and Jack deepens and the tribe splits, leaving just a few boys with Ralph; Samneric and Piggy. At night, Jack and a few of his tribal members sneak into Ralph's encampment and try to steal Piggy's glasses. There is then a riot at the camp as the boys try to fight off the intruders, however the hunters, with there enhanced instincts, come away victorious with the chapter ending with Jack holding Piggy's spectacles in one hand. Characters After yesterday's horrible party, Ralph seems to have finally lost his sanity; the idea of having taken part in a murder of a close friend is too much for him and all he can do is laugh to himself clutching the conch, representing the last remnant of his previous sane and civilised tribe. No longer is Ralph thinking clearly or usefully, he seems to no longer care about the signal fire and neither can he sleep or think of any ideas which could help the tribe. When the remnants of his tribe are raided by Jack's for fire, Ralph furiously attacks his unfortunate assailant and it becomes clear that Ralph is more than just the meek leader that Jack sees him as. However, being broken-spirited as Ralph is, Jack has a huge advantage even without his larger tribe simply because he can manipulate his tribe so well. Most boys have now joined Jack's tribe where he tortures them and rules with an iron fist but holds the power of the island because of his huntsmen. Jack may have lost his humanity, but he is still smart enough to think ahead and orders a raid on Ralph's meager tribe because he needs Piggy's specs in order to light fires in future. Additionally, he still knows how to control others and by persuading his tribe that the beast still roams he can get them worked into a frenzy at will by ordering a hunt. Piggy, Sam and Eric are the only 'biguns' remaining in Ralph's tribe with the death of Simon, all of them are horrified about the murder which they took part in and a now visually-imparied Piggy's life only gets worse when he finds that Jack's painted raiders have stolen his specs with no intention of returning them. Setting The beach which has housed the tribe the whole period, and always seemed a fairly safe area during the day, is now just an area full of memories. These memories are of a tribe trying to create a life on this beach which was civilised and had aspirations of rescue. Now it is just a cruel reminder of a distant past where they weren't in danger when lying in their beds and responisble for murder. Castle Rock must now feel like the new area of safety and moreover, it will feel powerful. At the same time, most boys probably do not enjoy the area as it is ruled so strictly and there is no lagoon to bathe in or any other nice features, it is comparable to a fortress versus the old holiday park. Themes and Writing Style Not very many new themes are introduced in this chapter; the boys suspect that Simon was killed during the ritual, but they do not quite know. Something else which is mentionable in this chapter is the fact that Piggy's spectacles were stolen during the darkness of night. This could suggest that Jack is evil because darkness and the colour black is often associated with evil and death. Innocence could be a theme or key concept developed during this chapter as after Simon's innocent death, once again Jack attacks the boys for there glasses for no reason. Piggy in particular is an innocent character in this chapter yet Jack's disregard for his requirement for glasses sparks of further conflict and hatred between the divided groups. "Why can't they just leave us alone" shows this innocence and is said by Ralph, and it shows this because they clearly want no involvement in conflict but Jack is involving them anyway. It almost seems as if by become leader Ralph automatically had these problems brought upon himself. Another theme could be of hatred, as Ralph steadily becomes furious at the rest of the children in this chapter. As well as this, Jack's actions of theivery also suggest this as someone who felt guilty or sorry for the oppositon would not do this. In addition the brawl between the two groups also shows this anger as they both viciously attacked each other. "I gave one of 'em what for" shows this through the fact that no mercy was shown from either side. This method of showing emotions (through actions and speech) is typical of Golding and is very effective at allowing the reader to realise this without directly saying it. Conclusion and Final Comment So, this chapter creates tension for further conflict in the book as the rift between the two new tribes is shown through conflict. The stealing of Piggy's glasses show that Jack and the other boys have little remaining respect for Ralph and it also shows the divide between the two groups. Ralph is no longer the strong leader and Jack has risen up to overthrow him.